Back to cooler weather. We had plenty of time to drive to Ballincollig, a suburb of Cork, where we are staying with one of Tom's cousins and her partner.

With time on our side we wandered along smaller roads as close to the coast as we could.

We stopped at Ardmore, a pretty little village with a well preserved round tower and the ruins of a church. We also stopped at a pretty fishing port (we forget which one) where a sudden gust of wind blew Tom’s cap, which he had bought in Switzerland in 2004, into the sea. Tom is now always wearing a cap even when there doesn’t seem to be enough sun around for it to burn.

Our final stop on the drive was at the Heritage Centre in Cobh (pronounced Cove) where Tom found a replacement cap and, joy of joys, a packet of two polo shirts just like the ones he bought here in 2008. And the original shirts haven’t even worn out yet!

We arrived at our destination just as Nat arrived and we settled in for a meal, some wine and a lot of chatting.